Not A Bad Thing
by bsinger95
Summary: Completely AU "Maybe you should start letting people in." "I can't" "Why?" "Suddenly, people who you think are always gonna be there... they disappear, you know?" Letty has seen a few things and gone through a few things that makes it hard for her to open up to people. That is, until she meets Dominic Toretto. He shows her that it's not a bad thing to fall in love with him.


Letty Ortiz looked around at the house in front of her. After returning from war after a year, she couldn't be happier than to see her sister and baby niece again. Lena gave birth to baby Cassandra, or Cassie, one year ago today. It was Cassie's 1st birthday and she hadn't known if she was going to be home in time for it. Luckily, her platoon was ordered to return to their families and loved ones when they successfully completed their mission a few weeks ago.

She couldn't wait to get inside and surprise her sister with her return. She hadn't spoken to her in 3 months so she figured a surprise wouldn't hurt. Letty loved her niece as if she were her own and this just made her return all the more sweet.

As she made her way inside she noticed the house was covered with circus birthday decorations. Letty smiled to herself. It was just like her sister to go all out for a birthday party her daughter wouldn't even remember. The house was packed with people she didn't know but she made her way to kitchen where she knew her sister would be getting the birthday cake ready. Letty entered and casually leaned against the frame of the door. She saw a distressed Lena with pink frosting on her face. She had a look of concentration on as she drew balloons on the circus themed cake. She was finishing up the writing, with baby blue frosting, when Letty decided to speak up.

"You should be outside spending time with your daughter on her birthday. She's only 1 once."

Lena froze as the words left Letty's mouth. She knew the sound of her big sister's voice anywhere. She slowly looked up from her task at hand and her eyes lit up. She couldn't believe she was really here.

"Let? What are you doing here?! I haven't heard from you in months! When did you get back?! How are you here right now?!" Lena ran into her older sister's arms and squeezed the life out of her.

Letty couldn't help but laugh at her excitement. "Give me a chance to answer your questions before you decide to kill me with your hugs."

Lena immediately let Letty go but insisted on standing only a few inches from her. "Oh sorry! I just can't believe you are really here!"

"Trust me. I can't either. I wasn't supposed to be here until another 6 months. Luckily, my platoon did what needed to be done and we got to go home early."

"Let, is everything ok?"

Letty tensed at the question. She would not, under any circumstances, tell her baby sister about anything that happened while she was serving. Lena knew she never liked to talk about it but it didn't stop her from asking each time.

"Everything is fine….. Now take me to see my God-daughter."

Lena hesitated but led the way anyway. "She is going to be so excited to see you. Plus, I have some people you need to meet."

"Fine. Just let me see my beautiful girl." Lena stopped right in front of the door that led to the back patio.

"Are you sure you don't even want to change first? You have to be hot, it's like—"

"Lena!" Let knew her sister was messing with her, but she was dying to see her niece.

"Alright. Don't get your panties in a twist."

As the girls walked outside Letty noticed a group of familiar faces by the grill. They were friends from high school that she hadn't seen since before Cassie's birth. They saw her and smiled at her as she nodded. She would talk to them later. They knew who she wanted to see first and foremost. She noticed Lena leading her to a little inflatable pool in the middle of the backyard. Standing right in the middle was her older cousin Romeo holding Cassie as she splashed around in the cool water.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is. The little _traviesa._"

"Nice to see you too, _primo_ but if I recall correctly it was you who was always getting us into trouble. Now get your hands off my niece."

Letty picked up her God-daughter not caring about the water that was soaking her uniform. Cassie squealed with excitement as she looked into Letty's caramel eyes. Letty and Cassie had an indescribable bond from the moment they laid eyes on each other. One that no one could ever come between.

"Hey, baby girl. Having fun on your birthday?" Letty moved to a chair a little further from where Lena and Romeo stood talking.

"How is she doing since… you know?"

"I don't know. I may be her sister, but you know Letty. She doesn't let anyone help her with anything. Especially when she's hurting. If you want my honest opinion, I'm worried about her. You don't just bounce back from that kind of thing over night. We all know Letty is good at hiding her feelings. Always has been."

They stood watching Letty raise Cassie above her as she leaned back in the chair. When she brought her down, she blew on her belly causing the baby to squeal in happiness. Letty then laid Cassie down on her lap as she showered the baby with kisses all over her face. Cassie continued to giggle at her God-mother's affection.

"Yeah. We just got to keep an eye on her. It'll be ok, mama. Let's just have a good time today, for your daughter, and pretend nothing's wrong. Tomorrow we'll worry about it. For now, just relax and enjoy your daughter's first birthday." Romeo threw his arm around Lena's shoulder as they continued to look on at the sweet, innocent interaction of a loving aunt and her niece.

* * *

At around 5:00 PM all Letty wanted to do was go upstairs to change, she had been spending time with Cassie and completely forgot she was still in uniform. However, Lena hadn't let her leave because there was one more person she hadn't met yet. She said _he'd_ be here any minute because he was due to be there around 4:30. Lena claimed it must be his job keeping him. Minutes turned into hours and, needless to say, Letty was not pleased. It must have been the army training, but she was never late to anything and she tended not to like anybody that was late to important events. Especially the 1st birthday of her God-daughter. Tardiness was a sign of laziness and a lack of respect for other people's time.

When 5:30 rolled around, Letty tried to sneak inside so she could at least get comfortable in regular clothes. Lena had stopped her though, insisting he was on his way. It was around 6 o'clock when Letty decided she had had enough. If he could be an hour and a half late then he surely would have no problem waiting five minutes for her to change, if it so happened he showed up while she was upstairs.

* * *

Inside Letty stood in her jeans and bra examining the bruises that coated her left ribcage. She didn't want Lena to know how much her hug actually hurt due to the bruises. Her ribs weren't broken thankfully, but they were still pretty bad. Letty's eyes betrayed her as they moved to the tattoo that was printed right above her right ribcage. As she stared at the tattoo, memories began to fill her head. Some good, but mostly bad. She tried to forget but they always haunted her. She touched the numbers written just beneath the main part of her tattoo and closed her eyes, wishing away the tears that were about to fall.

Opening them, she looked at herself in the mirror and put her brave face back on. She could not be weak. She learned that at a very young age. Crying was a sign of weakness and so was asking for help. She would not be weak.

Letty quickly threw on her tank top and jacket so she could search for her boots.

* * *

Letty came down 3 ½ minutes, after she had gone up, and walked over to her sister and cousin. She took Cassie out of Lena's arms and gave her the infamous Ortiz death stare.

"Well, where is this guy? I thought he was supposed to be here at 4:30? Is he even going to show up after all? You know Lena, this guy is not worth your time if he's going to show up an hour and a half late to your daughter's birthday.—"

During her rant, Letty failed to hear the rumble of an engine stop outside the house. It was American muscle: a sound she knew very well. She also failed to hear the approaching footsteps of the unknown man walk up right behind her. He was intrigued by the woman clad in skinny jeans, a black tank top, with a matching leather jacket and biker boots already. He knew she was raving about him and she was furious. Even though she was ripping him apart, he couldn't help but admire her ability to speak what was on her mind without the fear of consequences. It amused him and he let a smirk form on his lips.

"And to top it all off not only does this show his laziness but it also shows the lack of respect he has for other people's time. Who the hell does this asshole think he is?! I mean if—"

"This asshole thinks his name is Dominic Toretto." Letty froze at the sound of the man's deep voice. Shivers ran up her back and arms at the sound of it. Not only was she slightly embarrassed for being caught, but she also felt a feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that she wasn't sure she liked. "Nice to meet you. Does the woman, who has managed to tear me apart without meeting me first, have a name?"

Letty quickly regained her composure and turned around to face the mystery man. He was smiling. Her eyebrow quirked as she purposely sized him up. When her eyes made it back up to meet his, Dom chuckled. "You're also not afraid to show how much you already disapprove of me. You're a little firecracker aren't you?" Dom bent down to kiss Cassie on the cheek and moved to hug Lena as Letty furrowed her eyebrows at the comment.

Lena couldn't stop the laughter that erupted from her. "Hey D, glad you could make it after all. Letty, this is my good friend Dominic. We're in no way romantically involved, so don't worry about that. Dom, this is my older sister Letty. I warned you not to be late. You should've listened."

Letty was seething. "No. This 'little firecracker' is Staff Sergeant Ortiz of the United States Marine Corps. I would say it's a pleasure to meet you also, but I don't want to lie." With that, she walked off with Cassie, a sway in her hips, and a smirk on her face.

"You were right, Lena. I should have listened. She is most definitely a tough one." Dom watched Letty with awe as she retreated from the group. He had to find out more about this woman. He could tell things were about to get a lot more interesting.

* * *

A/N: I know I have other stories that are not finished and I shouldn't be starting another story, but this was inspired from a dream I had two nights ago. I just had to write it. It's completely AU. I don't know if any of the other FF characters will show up. Especially Brian. Words can't explain how heart-broken I am about Paul's passing. Rest in Heaven Angel Walker 3. You will be missed.


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